The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Sierra Space And Cloud Security Provider Lacework Raise Huge $1B-Plus Rounds

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s entry here.

Fundraising has been nuts this year and this week is a perfect illustration—with two gigantic $1 billion-plus rounds. Those weren’t the only large rounds, as the week saw 10 U.S.-based companies raise more than $200 million. Clearly, investors are not winding down even as the year does.

Subscribe to the Crunchbase Daily

1. Sierra Space, $1.4B, space travel: Space tech already has seen a strong year, and Louisville, Colorado-based Sierra Space just added to it. The commercial space company closed a $1.4 billion “Series A”—which is sure to skew Series A median numbers this year—led by General Atlantic, Coatue and Moore Strategic Ventures. Founded this year, it is the company’s first capital raise. The company plans to use the new cash to develop its Dream Chaser Spaceplane, an orbital commercial spaceplane.

2. Lacework, $1.3B, cybersecurity: All the way back in January, San Jose-based Lacework became a unicorn when it closed a $525 million growth round. Clearly, the cloud security provider thought it could do more with more cash as it just closed a $1.3 billion Series D round led by Sutter Hill Ventures, Altimeter Capital, D1 Capital Partners and Tiger Global Management. The new investment sets a valuation of $8.3 billion for the 7-year-old company. Lacework is riding the tailwinds of the pandemic, which helped accelerate the rate at which companies move to the cloud and the need to secure workloads there.

3. Heyday, $555M, consumer goods: The Amazon aggregator space has been white hot this year. In just the last three weeks, Boston-based Thrasio announced the initial closing of a $1 billion Series D and Berlin-based Razor Group closed a $125 million Series B with a valuation of more than $1 billion. Not to be outdone, San Francisco-based Heyday this week raked in a $555 million Series C at a valuation of more than $1 billion—just six months after the marketplace brand-building platform closed a $70 million Series B. The round was co-led by The Raine Group and PremjiInvest. The company has now raised a total of $800 million since being founded in 2020.

4. Formstack, $425M, productivity tools: Workplace productivity tools have been popular with investors all year, as the pandemic changed the way many work. Indiana-based Formstack was able to ride that wave to a $425 million growth investment led by Silversmith Capital Partners and PSG. The company helps users build forms and documents, and collect e-signatures—all without code.

5. Faire, $400M, wholesale marketplace: San Francisco-based Faire, an online wholesale marketplace that connects local retailers with brands, closed a $400 million Series G round led by Durable Capital Partners, D1 Capital Partners and Dragoneer Investment Group at a valuation of $12.4 billion. The company, which sold over 125 million products in the past year, has now raised more than $1 billion since being founded in 2017.

6. Generate Biomedicines, $370M, biotech: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Generate Biomedicines, which has developed a machine-learning-powered platform to rapidly invent new drugs, raised a $370 million Series B. Founded in 2018, the company has raised $420 million to date, according to Crunchbase data.

7. Farmers Business Network, $300M, agtech: Farmers Business Network, a farmer-to-farmer network and agtech company, closed a $300 million Series G led by Fidelity Management & Research Co. The network, with headquarters in San Carlos, California, and Chicago, has raised more than $870 million to date, according to Crunchbase data.

8. Upgrade, $280M, fintech: San Francisco-based fintech developer Upgrade raised a $280 million Series F at a $6 billion pre-money valuation. The round was led by Coatue and DST Global.

9. ACELYRIN, $250M, biopharma: Los Angeles-based ACELYRIN, a clinical-stage biopharma company, closed a $250 million Series B financing led by AyurMaya, an affiliated fund of Matrix Capital Management.

10. Podium, $201M, communication: Lehi, Utah-based Podium, developer of a communications platform for businesses to interact with local customers, raised $201 million led by YC Continuity, reportedly setting a valuation around $3 billion. Founded in 2014, Podium has raised nearly $420 million, per Crunchbase data.

Big global deals

With the huge rounds raised this week in the U.S., only one company outside the country broke into the top 10 global deals.

• Sao Paulo-based Facily, a social commerce marketplace, closed a $250M Series D.

Methodology

We tracked the largest rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of Nov. 13 to 19. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration: Dom Guzman